


He's Got Personality

by Etcetera



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Gen, Stangst, Stanuary, brief allusion to self-harm, character study prose, i felt i should give a heads up just in case, though it's a metaphor and not an actual act
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-14 03:33:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29039424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Etcetera/pseuds/Etcetera
Summary: Sometimes, you've just gotta fake it 'til you make it, even if you're running on fumes. Especially if you're Stanley Pines.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 21
Collections: Stanuary





	He's Got Personality

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little prosey oneshot for Stanuary 2021's week one prompt: Charm. This could serve as a companion piece to my other oneshot, Good Mourning.

The curve of his grin feels more like a grimace on the better days; a baring of teeth rendered facetious only by the upward tilt at the corners and no one is any the wiser. On the worse days, it feels like a Glasgow smile, slashed haphazardly across his face by his own damn self in a desperate act of self-preservation. And if anyone could recognize the self-inflicted violence of his own smile on _those_ days, they politely pretend not to and keep their eyes glued to the merchandise he pedals.

Sometimes, he feels a quiet bitterness at the way no one can see it, the way no one ever asks him how he’s doing, the way no one seems to worry about _him_ for once. But it’s a bitterness easy to ignore, the way an esophagus just gets accustomed to acid reflux regurgitation. Sure there’s damage, but you pop a few antacids and get on with things.

It’s fine, though, really. He has _personality_. He carries himself with a counterfeit confidence that is seamless to the naked eye, and the kind of charismatic bravado that allows him to put on a show, rake in the dough and leave an impression in the form of brightly colored bumper stickers and cheap bric-a-brac. If there’s one thing Stan Pines knows how to do, it’s schmoozing the schmucks out of their time and money with his easy savoir faire of magnetic showmanship.

He’s a charmer and an enigma. Even if he feels more like one of those sad clowns people make somber paintings of to be ironic more than he’s ever really felt like a ringmaster. But isn’t that just a testament to his fortitude? That in spite of everything, he can still slap on a mask of conviviality for the sake of the astronomical electric bills, if nothing else. He hopes it will amount to _more_ than electric bills and feel worth it in the end.

So he grins.

And he grins.

And he grins.

And wills his dentures not to crack under the strain of his painfully clenched jaw.

**Author's Note:**

> Short and... well, not that sweet. I'm hoping to start working on some bigger Stan-centric fic projects soon, if my college schedule will let me. Until then, find me on my Gravity Falls tumblr: funkielittlebeastie.tumblr.com  
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
